Lt. Col. Medel Aguilar, Spokesperson of the 9th Infantry Division, Philippine Army, leaves the public in the dark as he conceals the fact that no less than Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista admitted at a command conference on 11 July 2013 that they have failed in implementing Oplan Bayanihan counter-insurgency program in its first phase.

Plainly, this means that any counterrevolutionary campaign which does not resolve ancient problems of landlessness, poverty, and injustice will surely fail to win the support of the masses.

No amount of Oplan Bayanihan-designed public relations stunts could conceal the true nature of the 9th Infantry Division: It serves as the ruling class’ armed force of repression in denying the poor and oppressed Bicolanos of their democratic rights and legitimate demands. Furthermore, worsening crises plaguing the country embolden the people to take the path of revolution and dispel any illusion being peddled by the jesters of Oplan Bayanihan.

True to its psywar policy, Lt. Col. Aguilar likewise deceives the people in self-assuredly declaring that the recent widespread military actions by the New People’s Army-Bicol are mere “acts of attention-seeking by a weakened NPA”. Either that, or he displays his ignorance of military theories. Nonetheless, the 9th ID Spokesperson should know that launching military attrition against the enemy are part of the NPA’s guerrilla strategy and tactics in order to gradually defeat a relatively stronger but unpopular AFP.

Definitely, a revolutionary guerrilla army rendering heavy casualties on the AFP from across the region means a strengthening NPA. In Sorsogon province alone, at least eleven 31st Infantry Battalion troopers were killed and six others were wounded in three separate NPA ambushes in Bulan and Juban on 21-22 September. On the other hand, only two Red fighters were slightly wounded.

On the 22 Sept. ambush, AFP helicopters were ordered by 903rd Infanty Brigade commanding officer Col. Joselito Kakilala to strafe two villages of Juban because the AFP troopers, as Col. Kakilala estimated, were “outnumbered”. Certainly, such victories cannot be won by a “weakened” NPA. Perhaps, Lt. Col. Aguilar could easily comprehend this simple logic.

Ultimately, this means that it is the NPA who are cherished by the people, as these recent tactical offensives would not have been successfully carried out if not because of the people’s support.

Only the wracked 9th Infantry Division and the oppressors of the poor are troubled with news of the triumphs of the people’s army. In the hearts and minds of the broad masses, however, such victories broadcast their continuing liberation from the worsening and wide-ranging crisis that afflict the country every single day.